There is rift in the politics of the larger coast region, pundits have said.
This is after two major coast political kingpins, Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and Kilifi County's Amason Kingi, allegedly fell out following the handshake between their ODM party leader Raila Odinga and his longtime political nemesis President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Joho supported the March 9 handshake saying he would support anything Odinga does for it is always good for the people.
Kingi who seemed not to support the handshake, says he does not see the importance of the Raila-Uhuru unity.
Kingi, a two-time governor, is rooting for the formation of a coast region political party that the people of coast will use to ascend to State House, possibly through him come 2022.
The two leaders who have occasionally been seen together publicly, last met publicly on May 4, when they held an emergency consultative meeting with National government officials led by Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation, Simon Chelugui and his Devolution counterpart Eugene Wamalwa.
They held in depth discussions on the extensive damage caused by floods due to the recent heavy rains on the Baricho Water Plant and later visited the plant.
Just as Kingi, Joho who is the ODM deputy party leader, is eyeing for the presidency through his party come 2022.
During the August 8, 2017 general election campaigns, the duo said they would seat down and pick one presidential candidate amongst themselves to represent the coast region.
Despite their alleged differences having an impact in coast politics, Nagib Shamsan, a political commentator says Joho and Kingi are drawing support from two separate groups.
“Arabs and Mijikenda dominate Coast politics and have had bad blood because of several issues like land ownership. Many Mijikendas feel that the Arabs were responsible for their many land problems,” he said.
Two leaders who were staunch supporters of Joho's ODM coastal unity, such as MPs Aisha Jumwa (Malindi), and Mohammed Ali (Nyali) have since declared their support for Deputy President William Ruto for 2022 presidency, leaving the two governors in the cold.